A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial of Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Specific Phobias in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Maskey, Morag; Rodgers, Jacqui; Grahame, Victoria; Glod, Magdalena; Honey, Emma; Kinnear, Julia; Labus, Marie; Milne, Jenny; Minos, Dimitrios; McConachie, Helen; Parr, Jeremy

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3861-x

Cited by 75 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Similar to the use of realistic visual three-dimensional stimuli rendered in VR for desensitisation to specific phobias and environments that may provoke anxiety in individuals with autism [66][67][68], SoundFields produces realistic three-dimensional auditory stimuli that can simulate the movement and acoustic environments of feared sounds. For any form of VRET to be considered successful, the virtual environment must be capable of eliciting emotions such as anxiety in order for new positive associations with the stimuli to be formed through controlled and graduated exposure [69].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SoundFields: A Virtual Reality Game Designed to Address Auditory Hypersensitivity in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020

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Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are characterised as having impairments in social-emotional interaction and communication, alongside displaying repetitive behaviours and interests. Additionally, they can frequently experience difficulties in processing sensory information with particular prevalence in the auditory domain. Often triggered by everyday environmental sounds, auditory hypersensitivity can provoke self-regulatory fear responses such as crying and isolation from sounds. This paper presents SoundFields, an interactive virtual reality game designed to address this area by integrating exposure based therapy techniques into game mechanics and delivering target auditory stimuli to the player rendered via binaural based spatial audio. A pilot study was conducted with six participants diagnosed with ASD who displayed hypersensitivity to specific sounds to evaluate the use of SoundFields as a tool to reduce levels of anxiety associated with identified problematic sounds. During the course of the investigation participants played the game weekly over four weeks and all participants actively engaged with the virtual reality (VR) environment and enjoyed playing the game. Following this period, a comparison of pre- and post-study measurements showed a significant decrease in anxiety linked to target auditory stimuli. The study results therefore suggest that SoundFields could be an effective tool for helping individuals with autism manage auditory hypersensitivity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SoundFields: A Virtual Reality Game Designed to Address Auditory Hypersensitivity in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020

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“…A recent study applied VR exposure therapy to treat specific phobias in 32 autistic children and found that 45% of children remained free from their fears 6 months after the treatment. 33 These results highlight the ability of VR to help autistic children prepare for real-world stressors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Virtual Reality Air Travel Training with Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Preliminary Report

Miller

Wiederhold

Miller

et al. 2020

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is categorized by deficits in social communication and interaction, alongside repetitive, restrictive behaviors or interests (RRBIs). Previous research supports the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) to train a variety of specific skills (i.e., riding a bus or crossing the street) as well as more complex social skills, such as emotion recognition and functional communication. The present reports the implementation of a VR-based air travel functional communication activity in five children diagnosed with ASD. Using an iPhone X and Google Cardboard device, researchers delivered the VR intervention once per week for 3 weeks to each participant. During these interventions, researchers measured activity completion ability on a 4-point scale. At week 4, all children participated in a real-world air travel rehearsal at the San Diego International Airport. Parents were asked to rate their child's air travel abilities before week 1 and after week 4. All children improved their air travel skills from pre-to postintervention, reflected in both the researchers' and parents' observations. All children navigated the real-world airport under their own power. This preliminary report suggests the efficacy of VR to teach basic air travel skills to young children diagnosed with autism. Clinician observations regarding attention to the VR and strategies for helping participants accept the intervention technique are discussed. Future iterations of this program will require larger sample sizes and more robust clinical measurements-such as communication samples and physiological monitoring.

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“…This approach needs to better tailor the VR experiences to the specific coping skills of each child. In a recent randomized controlled trial ( Maskey et al., 2019 ), clinicians used VR to treat autistic children experiencing specific phobias with positive results.…”

Section: Clinical Applications and Recommendations ∗mentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality in Clinical Psychology

Riva

2022

Comprehensive Clinical Psychology

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A Randomised Controlled Feasibility Trial of Immersive Virtual Reality Treatment with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Specific Phobias in Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Cited by 75 publications

References 42 publications

SoundFields: A Virtual Reality Game Designed to Address Auditory Hypersensitivity in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

SoundFields: A Virtual Reality Game Designed to Address Auditory Hypersensitivity in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Virtual Reality Air Travel Training with Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Preliminary Report

Virtual Reality in Clinical Psychology

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